With reference to FIG. 1, a typical fuel supply unit for a vehicle includes a fuel flange 10 configured to be sealed to a wall of a fuel tank. The flange 10 is interconnected with a fuel pump assembly 12 by struts 14. Typically, strut supports are molded into the bottom of the flange. For example, with reference to FIG. 2, the bottom of a conventional flange 10′ is shown having strut supports 16. The strut supports 16 affect the mold flow and can cause warpage.
Furthermore, customers are requiring flexibility regarding the position of a reservoir and level sender with respect to the flange location for in tank fuel supply units. One solution is to provide additional strut supports 16 on the bottom of the flange 10′. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, five struts supports are provided and the user can select certain of the struts supports to provide the desired strut mounting location. However, the additional strut supports 16 add material to the flange that is not needed for certain applications. In addition, the added strut supports 16 make the molding more complicated and it is difficult to achieve the required perpendicularity of the interfaces due to shrinkage. Still further, some strut support locations on the flange are not possible due to molding constraints although the flange bottom could accommodate such locations. In other applications, additional features or ports cannot be added to the flange due to an interference with the strut supports 16.
Accordingly, there is a need provide a simple structure for supporting struts that can be orientated in a flexible manner with respect to the flange.